Breast cancer is a killer.  It pays no attention to age, wealth, color, ethnic background or education.  Each year hundreds of thousands of women are diagnosed with breast cancer.  Each year thousands and thousands die of breast cancer.  A diagnosis of breast cancer twenty-five years ago was a death sentence.  Now though there is hope.  New technology for detecting breast cancer is developed every day along with new treatment methods.  What is the number one way to help detect breast cancer?  It is an easy answer.  Any breast cancer site will tell you.  It is self-detection. With self-detection comes the opportunity for knowledge and knowledge is power.

Doctors and that same breast cancer site, such as the American Cancer Society, say that a woman should do a self examine once a month.  Each time she does that, she minimizes her risk of finding a lump to late.  In fact many a breast cancer support group would whole heartedly agree that a woman's best defense is a strong offense and no where is that strongest than in her own health and survival.  The earlier a lump is detected, the better the odds are for treatment.

Breast cancer is a killer if left undetected.  A simple search on the internet for a breast cancer site yields hundreds of sites all dedicated to finding a cure for this global killer.  Breast cancer does not respect age, ethnic background, nor does it differentiate between the impoverished and the wealthy.  The best way to understand breast cancer is to either go to a breast cancer site or find a breast cancer support group.  The information that both places provide is invaluable.

Many of the breast cancer site offer women who find themselves in financial straits the chance for a free mammogram.  These free mammograms and other invaluable services close the gap between the rich and poor, and perhaps more than anything else offer the chance to save a life.  Besides offering free services, many people find solace in a breast cancer support group. 

Often women who are afflicted with breast cancer and have to undergo surgery to remove the effected breast, suffer from poor body image.  Perhaps they also have lost their hair to chemotherapy and radiation.  Breast cancer support groups offer the love and guidance many of these women need to face the outside world.  These groups offer the women and families a chance to connect with other individuals that have been through the same thing.

The Internet has often been criticized as a means for social withdrawal.  This is not always the case and most certainly not for women and families searching for answers and help.  The Internet allows these individuals the chance to find other survivors.  An internet search can lead to a breast cancer site for knowledge and understanding of the latest medical breakthroughs, or it can lead to finding a breast cancer support group.  The amount of information out on the World Wide Web is amazing and available at the click of a mouse.  One in twenty women affected forty-five years ago, one in seven now...hopefully one day we can see those numbers fade to nothing.